Tulo sits with left thigh injury

PITTSBURGH -- Rockies All-Star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki said his left thigh felt the same Sunday as it did Saturday night, when he suffered a cramp in the fourth inning and had to leave the 3-2 loss to the Pirates. And the news wasn't much better when manager Walt Weiss ran down his injury list Sunday, before the Rockies' attempt to avoid being swept by the Pirates.

Tulowitzki's replacement Sunday, Josh Rutledge, filled in with a two-run homer off Pittsburgh's Jeff Locke in the top of the first.

Tulowitzki, who led the Majors with a .340 batting average entering Sunday, was on the lineup card as a possible pinch-hitter, but Weiss didn't see him as an option.

"He's sore," Weiss said. "I still consider him day to day, but he's sore. It could be a couple or three days. We'll monitor it and just check in with him hourly, but I'm expecting it to be another day or two."

First baseman Justin Morneau missed his third straight day with neck stiffness, and Weiss admitted he's worried "a little bit. He's made some improvement but still not enough to be out there. Anytime a guy is not able to play in two, three, four days, you start to get concerned."

There was -- surprise -- good news. All-Star outfielder Charlie Blackmon turned his left ankle in a scary fashion Saturday night when he lined into a double play to end the 11th inning. X-rays were clean, and Blackmon wasn't limping on Sunday.

"Charlie surprised me when he showed up this morning," Weiss said. "I thought he was going to be hurt. I saw a replay, and I also saw a snapshot when he rolled his ankle. It was really ugly.

"He's mad at me because he isn't in the lineup, which is a good thing. He tried to make a case for being in that lineup. But I actually made the lineup before he got here and knew he'd be available. He is available and Charlie wants to be there. He's fought hard to be an everyday player, and those guys want to be out there all the time."